Jersey Shore's Pauly D talks DJing, haircare, and making his first song: An EW Q&A

Image Credit: Scott Gries/Picture Group/MTVA Jersey boy cannot live on GTL alone. Paul DelVecchio, a.k.a. DJ Pauly D, the man with perhaps the most architecturally impressive coif in all of Shore-dom, will graduate from standing behind the decks to, quite possibly, taking his own place on the pop charts with the July 20 release of the inaugural Jersey Shore soundtrack, featuring his first official foray into creating juicehead jams for the masses.

EW spoke to Pauly (Mr. D?) to find out, in his own words, how the magic happens. Read on:

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: So tell me about your contribution to the soundtrack.
PAULY D: I have a bonus track that’s gonna be on there, and it’s entitled “Beat That Beat.” It sorta sums up the whole Jersey Shore experience—you know, beatin’ that beat, letting you know what we do in the club.

So does that mean going into the studio for you, or doing it on GarageBand? Did you do vocals? Explain!
It was in the actual studio, Universal’s studio, and I did the production and vocals, all that.

Had you done this before? Have you been hoarding a lot of ideas for an opportunity like this?
Oh yeah, tons of ideas, just pourin’. I been DJing my whole life, but this is my first track on a major record label, you know?

OK, so tell me who’s on your playlist this summer, other than, obviously, Enrique.
For sure David Guetta, a lot of DeadMau5, Lil Jon, Paul Oakenfold, a lot of those guys.

I read that it takes you about a half hour to do your hair. Do you have a soundtrack for that, or do you prefer to do your grooming in peace and quiet?
[Laughs] Nah, I always have music on at all times, so the second I wake up I throw music on, just whatever the mood of the day is, and get ready. So there’s always music goin’ when I’m doing my hair.

What kind of gigs did you play before you were Jersey Shore Pauly D?
I was DJing in New England, like the Rhode Island/Boston area, six nights a week at all different venues, a bunch of local spots.

Are you the kind of DJ who doesn’t mind taking requests, or is that your pet peeve?
No no no, I’m all for taking requests. I go into a club, I don’t even make any sets, I just play to the crowd. I’m an open-format DJ, all kinds of music: I play dance music, house music, R&B, hip-hop, I’ll play rock. And mash-ups are hot right now, so I’ll play a lot of mashups, but if somebody requests a song I play it, I gotta please everybody.

How big do you think your library is?
Oof. Right now I got over one terabyte of music.

And is that records, CDs, mp3s?
Everything is through mp3s now on my hard drive, I still spin vinyl but it’s with Serato, so the music’s mp3. But I gotta keep up with the vinyl so that’s important.

So how do you feel about your castmates’ taste in music?
We actually do pretty much have the same taste in music. We all like tracks to get you goin’, the upbeat songs, fist pumpin’, party songs. Just like the soundtrack, that’s why it’s so perfect.

Is there anyone else in the house you think could maybe be your DJ protégé, someone you could take under your wing and teach?
Um, no.

Well, if you had to choose one…
Um, I would probably teach Vinny, because no one else really has the passion for music that I do, and he kinda likes music too, so I’d actually pick him.

So you couldn’t like, dangle a pickle over the turntable and maybe lure Snooki?
[Laughs] She could maybe go for it, but it wouldn’t last.

What are your sources for music—do you follow a lot of blogs, or do you go to physical record stores?
I look at a bunch of DJ websites, that’s how I get the up-and-coming stuff, months and months before it gets on the radio and stuff like that, so I’ll throw that into a set, the ones that I think are gonna be hot. But I do buy a lot of vinyl, you gotta do that, keep up.

If you did do something like David Guetta’s album, with a huge roster of guest stars, who would your dream team be?
I’d love to work with artists like him. I’d probably put Rihanna, Alicia Keys, maybe Britney Spears on there. And Lil Jon, definitely. Probably Drake, he’s so hot right now.

Not a fan of Lady Gaga? I believe she was a bit of a starter guidette, once upon a time..
Yeah, yeah, I heard that [laughs]. She’s Italian. I’m a fan.